Pinkwashing Turns on Itself with Breast Cancer Awareness Gun

by Anne Landman — November 3, 2009 - 2:54pm
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Smith & Wesson Breast Cancer Awareness PistolOctober was Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the group Breast Cancer Action seized on the opportunity to promote its Think Before you Pink campaign to raise awareness of how companies are increasingly exploiting breast cancer as a marketing device to sell products -- some of which are actually harmful to women's health. Pink ribbon campaigns are offering up some bizarre, albeit benign products like a breast cancer awareness toaster and a breast cancer awareness floating Beer Pong table. But the most bizarre item yet to have a pink ribbon slapped on it must be Smith & Wesson's Pink Breast Cancer Awareness 9 mm Pistol, promoted by a woman named Julie Goloski, Smith and Wesson's Consumer Program Manager and a sharpshooter herself. Goloski is promoting S&W's breast cancer awareness pistol on her Facebook page, saying "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness M&P’s are shipping to dealers. I am thrilled to have my name associated with such a worthy cause and one of my favorite firearms." According to a 2008 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, firearms are the second most common cause of violent deaths of women, accounting for 29.2% of all violent deaths among females in the U.S. in 2008.

Main Source: 
GunBroker.com, November 3, 2009

Comments

This article is offensive

Submitted by Cancer Research Scientist (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 9:07pm.

This American company and its employees promote breast cancer patient and survivor advocacy -- not just for breast cancer on a personal level, but survivorship in general. Empowering women on any level is to be applauded. The idea that an inanimate object is somehow responsible for the deaths of women is ludicrous. This company empowers women, and their friends, colleagues, and supporters, to take action on many levels, to promote survivorship. Both Julie and Smith&Wesson are to be applauded. This atrocious accusation is unacceptable. I will buy one of these myself to support the cause and to voice my opposition to the comments made by PRWatch.

Awareness

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 5, 2009 - 11:17am.

The whole point is to raise awareness about breast cancer. Julie and S&W are helping to do that. To say that an inanimate object is the cause of anything is ridiculous. Spoons don't "make" people fat. A car can't do anything without a person behind the wheel. A gun is a tool just like a hammer or a bat.

yeah

Submitted by Darryl wayne (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 7:49pm.

here's another manufacturer of death that needs to be called out www.fordvehicles.com/warriorsinpink/commitment/

and how many porkers has this product sent to an early grave?
http://www.pulsestl.com/Krunch_Kandy_Breast_Cancer_Oreo_p/kkbbbc.htm

I wonder how many womens

Submitted by MikeD (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 7:08pm.

I wonder how many womens lives are SAVED each year due to the aid of a firearm. No mention of that in the post. Also, that report is misleading in several areas. The actual data is from 2005 not 2008. Only 16 states participate in the program that the data is pulled from. Data from FBI statistics reports 16,740 total murders or 2005, the survey for violent death claims an estimated 50,000 deaths, as they include suicide in those figures, which happens to make up 57% of that number. Also included in the numbers are legal intervention deaths. i.e police shooting, justified self defense shootings, etc.

Ford, Mercedes and BMW all contribute to BCA and I can GUARANTEE that more woman are killed by improper use of their products than from firearms.

Julie is doing her part in the effort and should be commended, not chastised for the criminal low life thugs that use a firearm to commit violence against ANYBODY.

Wow!

Submitted by A.Adams (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 6:37pm.

We can eliminate a leading cause of death among women by outlawing the manufacture of a certain "device"? Alert the press! Think how many lives we would save by getting rid of automobiles, and, while we're at it, how about airplanes? If those dang pesky airplanes had been outlawed on September 11, would could have avoided the loss of 3,000 lives. There are all manner of "devices" one could use to cause the demise of another (include bare hands and fists).

I commend Smith & Wesson and Julie Golob Golowski. They are doing a wonderful thing by donating a portion of proceeds to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Pink Pistols

Submitted by Welder (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 6:20pm.

Geez, Julie's a class act just trying to do a bit of good in the world, as is S&W.

Quit being such hoplophobic jackasses.

Perhaps if more women had

Submitted by Luvlee (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 5:56pm.

Perhaps if more women had guns LEGALLY and knew how to use them through regular practice on a professional range, they would not be the victims of violence.

Wow! You nailed it!

Submitted by Nonce (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 5:50pm.

All of us liberal gun nuts like us members of the Blue Steel Democrats (an official caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon) are just compensating for something, misogynistic blatantly using weapons and black helicopters against the wimmins, because we don't really want to help with cancer.

Oh wait, Julie is a woman, trying to help other women. And women never own firearms in order to protect themselves.

Oh...And what does your qualification of "violent deaths" have to do with cancer? And since we're on that topic anyway, how many times per year do women in this country use firearms to defend themselves?

You're not doing yourselves a services with this knee jerk partisanship here.

Mistake in the above blog post

Submitted by Mikee (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 5:09pm.

You write, "...firearms are the second most common cause of violent deaths of women..."

I don't believe "firearms" can act on their own to kill anyone. Generally, firearms must be loaded with cartridges and then used by a human to shoot another human.

I think a more correct statement might be something like, "Killers of women used firearms in 22% of their murders." Or even, "Firearms were the second most common means used to kill women by their murderers."

Demonizing an entire class of inanimate objects is taking Alinksy's Rules for Radicals a little far beyond its applicable field.

I suggest we demonize the murderers of women, not the tools by which they are killed.

Shame on them!!

Submitted by Barry Bean (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 4:35pm.

Julie Goloski is a veteran, a mother, and an outstanding example of a woman working hard to promote other women in a male dominated sport and industry. She and S&W should be applauded for using the M&P to promote breast cancer awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research.

I note that the article doesn't mention how many women's lives are saved by guns, or cite how many women across the country have obtained training and permits to use a gun for self defense. Whether its self examination to fight cancer or self defense to fight violent crime, you'd think they would support women who defend themselves or opt to excel in sports!

Thanks, Julie. Sorry PRWatch.org opted to have such a short sighted and unfounded reaction to your good efforts.

BBB